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albert Einstein Biography

Alt Text Albert Einstein is one of the most notable and influential scientists of the twentieth century. Although he became known as a genius of science and gained considerable fame later in life, as a child he was slow in learning to speak, and had a rebellious nature towards the conventional styles of learning at school, which left many teachers to believe he would amount to little. Inspired by a compass, his "sacred little geometry book", and classical music, his interest in science and mathematics grew and by the age of sixteen he was writing his first research science paper, and attempting to skip the last few years of high school to enter the Swiss institute of Technology. He failed the entrance exam but set a precedent in his life for thinking outside of the box and challenging the rules. His most famous discovery is the theory of relativity, E=MC2, which overturned Isaac Newton's laws by explaining the relation of energy and mass as a consequence of space and time. First introduced in a 3-page paper in 1905, the theory was so revolutionary it couldn't be proven until more advanced technology was available years later.

Born in Germany and raised in the Jewish faith, Einstein strongly opposed injustices of race and religion and often lent himself to the American civil rights movement and the efforts of the Zionist movement to preserve and cultivate the Jewish faith. He was instrumental in setting up the Hebrew University of Israel and was even invited to become Israel's second president, which he declined. Above all else Einstein maintained a non-nationalistic pacifist belief and urged for the disarmament of all nations and the formation of a one-world government. Often credited as the creator of the atom bomb, Einstein merely wrote a letter to President Roosevelt warning of Germany's possible use of nuclear weapons and was actually barred from participating in the United States' development of the atom bomb.

Albert Einstein is not only a world-renowned scientist who left an indelible mark on the world but also an icon of popular culture whose name and image have come to represent genius and intellect.

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Awards & Honors

  • Awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics (1922)
  • Awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London (1925)
  • Awarded a gold medal by the Royal Astronomical Society of England (1926)
  • Awarded the Max Planck medal for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics (1929)
  • Awarded the Franklin Medal by the Franklin Institute (1935)
  • The Albert Memorial, a bronze and marble sculpture, is erected in the Washington, D.C. National Mall by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1979)
  • The 99th element, a metallic synthetic element, is named "einsteinium" in honor of Albert Einstein (1955)
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Interesting Facts

  • Einstein wrote his first scientific paper, "On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field", in 1895 at 16 years old. It was never published but sent to his uncle for critique.
  • Einstein was a member of the Princeton, NJ chapter of the NAACP and served as co-chair of the American Crusade to End Lynching, which was headed by his friend Paul Robeson.
  • Efforts were made by reputable German scholars and government officials to debunk Einstein's work, cease the teaching of his theories and remove it from the annals of German science all because of his Jewish heritage.
  • While Einstein was considered a genius, at times he was more of an absent-minded professor; he was notorious for forgetting dates and numbers, losing things, and had problems spelling in the English language.
  • Einstein attributes his interest in science to a compass that his father gave to him when he was 10 years old.
  • From 1901 to 1954 Albert Einstein published more than 300 scientific works.
  • In 1926 Einstein co-invented a single-pressure absorption refrigerator that uses ammonia, butane, water, and a gas burner instead of electricity, with his student and friend Leo Szilard.
  • In 1937, when the African American contralto singer Marion Anderson gave a concert in Princeton, NJ and was denied lodging at the segregated Nassau Inn, Einstein hosted the singer at his house.
  • In 1944 a handwritten copy of Einstein's work on electrodynamics was sold for $6 million to finance war bonds.
  • In 1946 Einstein accepted an honorary degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the first school to grant college degrees to African-Americans in the United States and gave a speech addressing racism.
  • In 1952 Einstein was offered the position of President of Israel, but he declined.
  • After his death, Einstein's brain was donated to the Princeton Medical Center.
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Selected Albert Einstein Biographies

  • "Einstein: The Life and Times" by Ronald W. Clark (1971)
  • "Einstein: A Life" by Denis Brian (1996)
  • "Albert Einstein: A Biography" by Albrecht Folsing (1997)
  • "Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson (2007)
  • "Albert Einstein: A Biography" by Milton Meltzer (2007)
  • "Einstein: A Biography" by Jurgen Neffe (2007)
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Albert Einstein Timeline

  • 1879
      • Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany on March 14th. His family moves to Munich the following year where his father and uncle start an electrical engineering company, Einstein & Cie.
  • 1885
      • Attends the Catholic primary school, Petersschule, while receiving Judaism instructions at home and begins learning the violin. After three years he attends the Luitpold-Gymnasium.
  • 1894
      • His family moves to Italy and he stays behind to finish school. He later joins the family after leaving school prematurely and applying to the prestigious Zurich Polytechnic School (later named the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, or the ETH). He fails the exam and returns to his high school studies the following year, this time at the Aargau Cantonal School in Aarau, Switzerland where he boards with one of his professors.
  • 1896
      • He renounces his German citizenship, avoiding the military service, and after graduating from Aargau enters the ETH and receives training as a teacher in physics and mathematics. At the ETH he meets and falls in love with Serbian classmate Mileva Maric.
  • 1900
      • Graduates from the ETH and applies to become an assistant there but is not accepted.
  • 1901
      • Becomes a Swiss citizen. He publishes his first scientific paper "Conclusions Drawn from the Phenomena of Capillarity" in Annalen der Physik in March. Works as a substitute teacher at the technical school in Winterthur and then as a tutor at a private boarding school in Schaffhausen.
  • 1902
      • A daughter is born out of wedlock to Einstein and Mileva (she is named Lieserl and it is believed that she was born in January and given up for adoption).
      He begins working at the Patent Office in Bern Switzerland as a temporary Technical Expert in June - the position becomes permanent two years later.
  • 1903
      • Marries Mileva Maric on January 6th in Bern and their son Hans Albert is born the following year on May 14th.
  • 1905
      • This year is referred to as "Einstein's miracle year"; the year in which his most important scientific papers are published: "On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" in June; "On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat" in July; "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" in September, and "Does The Inertia Of A Body Depend On It's Energy Content?" in November, which introduces the theory of relativity, E=MC2.
  • 1906
      • Receives a doctoral degree from the University of Zurich on January 15th and is promoted to Technical Expert Second Class, at the Patent Office, in March. His doctoral thesis is "A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions".
  • 1908
      • Appointed Privatdozent (lecturer) at the University of Bern.
  • 1909
      • Becomes Extraordinary Professor at the University of Zurich in May, taking up the position in October, when he resigns from the Swiss Patent Office and the University of Bern. Receives an honorary degree from the University of Geneva.
  • 1910
      • His second son, Eduard, is born on July 28th.
  • 1911
      • Becomes Professor of Theoretical Physics at the German University of Prague in April and resigns from his post at the University of Zurich.
      Attends the first world physics conference, the Solvay Conference in Brussels. At 32 years old, he is the youngest attendee.
  • 1912
      • Accepts a position as Professor of Theoretical Physics at the ETH in Zurich and resigns from the German University of Prague.
  • 1914
      • Moves to Berlin where he begins his position as a research professor at the University of Berlin and serves as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. His wife and two sons return to Zurich after a few months, signifying the beginning of the end of their marriage.
  • 1917
      • Takes ill with an ulcer and liver problems and is cared for by his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. Assumes the position, first appointed in 1913, as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in October.
  • 1919
      • Officially divorces his wife Mileva Maric on February 14th and marries his cousin, Elsa Lowenthal on June 2nd. With growing discontentment of politics and the war, Einstein begins supporting Jewish Zionist efforts, although he maintains his own non-nationalistic, pacifist views.
  • 1921
      • Travels to the United States for the first time in April to receive an honorary degree at Princeton University and deliver lectures on the theory of relativity. Accompanies Chaim Weitzmann on a U.S. fund-raising tour for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (which officially opens in 1925 - Einstein serves on the Board of Governors).
  • 1922
      • Awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize of Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". Over the next five years he travels to Asia, the Far East and South America.
  • 1933
      • As the Nazis come into power in Germany, Einstein resigns from the Prussian Academy of Sciences and emigrates to America to fill the position of Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey (not the Ivy League Princeton University, which actively prevented the hire of Jewish professors at the time).
  • 1939
      • At the urging of his friend Leo Szilard, he pens a letter to President Roosevelt warning him of the possible use of atomic energy by the Germans in the current war. This letter is attributed to Roosevelt's push to research and develop nuclear weapons, referred to as the "Manhattan Project". Ironically, Einstein is barred from working on this project because of his political views. The following year he becomes a naturalized citizen of the United States.
  • 1945
      • Retires from the Princeton Institute but continues to maintain an office there until his death. The next year he becomes chairman of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists.
  • 1948
      • He undergoes an exploratory laparotomy operation at the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital where it is discovered that he has a large aneurysm of the abdominal aorta.
  • 1955
      • Pens a letter to Berttrand Russell agreeing to sign a joint manifesto urging all nations to renounce nuclear weapons. It becomes known as the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, and leads to the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs.
      On April 13th he suffers a ruptured aneurysm in his abdominal aorta and is hospitalized on April 15th. Einstein dies on April 18th in Princeton, NJ.
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